What BRAIN Biotech AG does

BRAIN Biotech AG is a German industrial biotechnology company, founded in 1993 and headquartered in Zwingenberg, that develops, produces and distributes specialty enzymes, proteins and microbial production strains for industrial customers across food & beverage, life sciences & pharma, environmental, and cosmetics end-markets. The company operates an integrated value chain — metagenomic enzyme discovery (MetXtra™), microbial strain engineering (E. coli, Bacillus, Pichia, Aspergillus), fermentation scale-up (up to 10,000L at Biocatalysts, Cardiff), downstream processing, and global distribution through Biocatalysts (UK), Breatec (Netherlands), WeissBioTech (Germany) and BIOSUN Biochemicals (USA) — supported by a proprietary CRISPR-based nuclease portfolio (G-dase E®, G-dase M, BMC®, BEC®) for strain optimization and a pipeline of research-intensive projects under the BRAINBioIncubator segment (Deucrictibant, Aurase®, BioGold®).

BRAIN Biotech AG earns revenue through (1) sales of approximately 600 specialty enzyme products and ingredients via direct B2B channels and distribution subsidiaries; (2) contract research (CRO) and contract manufacturing (CDMO) services, including fermentation up to 10,000L and large-scale freeze drying; and (3) licensing, royalty and milestone monetization from BioIncubator assets, notably the EUR 128.88M Royalty Pharma deal on Deucrictibant (September 2024) and the up-to-EUR 92.3M exclusive G-dase E® pharma license to Akribion Therapeutics (October 2024). Pricing is custom/quote-based per project; no public list pricing exists. Customers are primarily enterprise industrial buyers in food, beverage, life sciences, oleochemicals and environmental applications; the company also runs co-development alliances (e.g., Corbion for natural antimicrobials, August 2025; Sartorius for CRISPR-Cas nucleases, 2021) and licensing partnerships (Pharvaris for Deucrictibant; SolasCure for Aurase®).

The company is publicly listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker BNN; ISIN DE0005203947) since 9 February 2016, with ~280 employees as of FY 2024/25 and group revenue of EUR 49.6M in FY 2024/25 (adjusted EBITDA -EUR 0.5M; cash EUR 6.2M). Management has stated a mid-term target to roughly double BRAINBiocatalysts segment revenue to ~EUR 100M while raising adjusted EBITDA margin to ~15% within ~5 years, with a strategic focus on Europe and North America combining organic growth and value-adding M&A.

Name

BRAIN Biotech AG

Legal name

BRAIN Biotech AG

Website

https://brain-biotech-group.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

BRAIN Biotech AG is a publicly listed German industrial biotechnology company (Frankfurt Prime Standard: BNN) that develops, produces and distributes specialty enzymes, proteins and microbial production strains for B2B customers in food & beverage, life sciences & pharma, environmental and cosmetics markets, operating a discovery-to-commercial-scale value chain via subsidiaries in Germany, UK, Netherlands and the USA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Industrial Enzymes

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)

akta.pro primary industry

Bioprocess Development & Scale-Up/Scale-Down Platforms (DoE, high-throughput, modeling) (HLAAAJAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Process Development & Tech Transfer (Upstream/Downstream/MSAT) (HLAGAGAE), Synthetic Biology & Genetic Circuit Design Platforms (pathway engineering, chassis development) (HLAAAIAD)

Keywords

• Specialty enzyme manufacturing
• Industrial biotechnology
• Enzyme discovery platform
• Microbial production strains
• Bioprocess development

Headquarters

HQ city

Zwingenberg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Specialty Enzyme & Protein Product Sales (BRAINBiocatalysts): Primary revenue driver: large-scale production and global distribution of specialty enzymes, proteins, microorganisms and ingredients via subsidiaries Biocatalysts (UK), Breatec (Netherlands), WeissBioTech (Germany), and BIOSUN Biochemicals (USA). Approximately 600 specialty products for B2B customers; mid-term plan to roughly double segment revenue to ~EUR 100 million.
2. Custom R&D Services (CRO): Contract research offering tailored solutions spanning enzyme engineering, microbial production strain development, bioprocess development, and screening for bioactive substances. Includes integration with BioScience Zwingenberg R&D and the recent BRAIN-Biocatalysts Life Science Solutions initiative for the small-molecule API, DNA-modification and molecular diagnostics markets.
3. Contract Development & Manufacturing (CDMO): Contract fermentation and downstream processing services for the Life Science industry, including Biocatalysts' fermentation capacities up to 10,000L and large-scale freeze drying capabilities; supports customers from discovery through commercial production.
4. Licensing & Royalty Monetization (Deucrictibant): Royalty monetization deal with Royalty Pharma on Deucrictibant (PHA121), a bradykinin-mediated disease compound in clinical development at Pharvaris N.V., valued up to EUR 128.88 million — comprising EUR 18.41 million upfront, up to EUR 18.42 million regulatory milestones, up to EUR 92.05 million long-term sales milestones, plus additional up to EUR 9.0 million contractual milestone payments retained by BRAIN Biotech.
5. Exclusive Pharma Technology Licensing (G-dase E®): Exclusive technology licensing agreement with Akribion Therapeutics GmbH for G-dase E® CRISPR-Cas nuclease in pharmaceutical applications. Up to EUR 92.3 million in R&D and commercial milestone fees plus royalties on net sales, with payment structure tied to clinical development progress and market success. BRAIN Biotech retains non-pharma rights.
6. Convertible Bond Financing (Non-Dilutive Capital): EUR 5.0 million private placement convertible bond issued on 29 February 2024 with a 6.52% interest rate, EUR 5.04 conversion price, and maturity 5 September 2026, to fund growth initiatives and general corporate purposes.
7. Pharma Milestone Payments (Out-licensed Programs): Milestone payments from out-licensed pharma programs, e.g. EUR 1.5 million received in Q2 2023/24 from licensee Pharvaris for development progress in Deucrictibant; similar milestone-based receipts expected across the BioIncubator portfolio.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

BRAIN Biotech AG discovers, develops, and produces specialty enzymes, proteins, and microbial production strains for industrial customers in food & beverage, life sciences, and environmental markets. The company operates the BRAINBiocatalysts segment (commercial production and global distribution of ~600 specialty enzymes via Biocatalysts UK, Breatec NL, WeissBioTech DE, and BIOSUN Biochemicals US) and the BRAINBioIncubator segment (high-value pipeline assets such as Deucrictibant, Aurase, G-dase nucleases, BioGold). It also offers custom contract research (CRO) and contract manufacturing (CDMO) services, underpinned by the proprietary MetXtra™ metagenomics + AI discovery platform.

Product overview

BRAIN Biotech AG operates an integrated specialty-enzyme and industrial-biotechnology platform composed of two operating segments (BRAINBiocatalysts and BRAINBioIncubator) plus several proprietary technology platforms. The core commercial offering is the BRAINBiocatalysts segment, which produces and distributes a portfolio of ~600 specialty enzymes, proteins, microbial starter cultures and ingredients via Biocatalysts Ltd., Breatec B.V., WeissBioTech and BIOSUN Biochemicals. Underpinning discovery is the proprietary MetXtra™ enzyme-discovery platform, which fuses BRAIN Biotech AG's and Biocatalysts' Nagoya-compliant metagenomic sequence databases with bioinformatics and AI to identify and even de novo design novel enzymes. MetXtra™ feeds the BRAIN-Biocatalysts Life Science Solutions initiative, which pairs discovery with Biocatalysts' up-to-10,000L fermentation capacity, downstream processing, and the proprietary Plug & Produce microbial strain platform to deliver end-to-end enzyme development for small-molecule API, DNA modification, and molecular diagnostics markets. The BRAINBioIncubator segment houses higher-risk, higher-value pipeline assets such as Deucrictibant (royalty-monetized with Royalty Pharma), the Aurase® wound-healing enzyme (via SolasCure Ltd.), proprietary genome-editing nucleases (G-dase® E licensed to Akribion Therapeutics, the G-dase® M and the patented CRISPR-BEC® and CRISPR-BMC® nuclease families), the BioGold® bioleaching process for gold/lithium recovery, and products like the Lipomod™ 70MDP lipase. The platform also offers CRO (custom enzyme/strain/bioprocess development) and CDMO services, all rooted in industrial biotechnology for the food, beverage, life-science and environmental markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BRAINBiocatalysts: Business segment combining specialty enzyme product development, production and distribution (formerly BioProducts segment plus CRO services).
• BRAINBioIncubator
• Aurase®
• G-dase® E
• G-dase® M
• BMC® (BRAIN Metagenome Cas)
• MetXtra™
• Lipomod™ 70MDP
• BioXtractor
• LIL
• ABEL
• CompActives
• screenline
• BRAIN
• Metagenom (word-image brand)

Products and services

• Specialty Enzyme Product Portfolio

Quantifiable outcome

• +8.1% year-on-year revenue growth in the BRAINBiocatalysts core segment in Q3 FY 2024/25
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship strategic partnership for natural-preservation innovation, mid-tier industrial partner for biogold® scale-up, flagship bioincubator commercialization / value-up partner, mid-tier technology partner for metxtra™ access, core intra-group co-development alliance (life science enzymes), core licensing partner for the deucrictibant program, mid-tier subsidiary / cross-cooperation partner, core historical subsidiary now merged into parent, core continental european production subsidiary, mid-tier r&d collaboration on crispr-cas nucleases, core us distribution subsidiary (now part of group), core bioincubator asset (aurase® wound-care) and flagship intra-group / former partner now subsidiary.

• Corbionflagship strategic partnership for natural-preservation innovationStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 August 2025Corbion (Amsterdam-based global sustainable ingredients company, ~EUR 1.33 billion 2024 sales, 2,399 FTEs) and BRAIN Biotech AG agreed on 25 August 2025 to co-develop novel biobased antimicrobial compounds and derivatives to extend food freshness/shelf life and meet clean-label demand. BRAIN Biotech contributes specialty enzyme technology, microbial strain development, bioprocess development and acts as technology licensing partner; Corbion contributes food-systems knowledge, customer/industry insight, and piloting/scale-up capabilities. Initial innovations expected in late 2026.
• PX Groupmid-tier industrial partner for biogold® scale-upStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 February 2025BRAIN Biotech AG announced on 13 February 2025 a collaboration with PX Group on the PX Urban Mining Initiative, leveraging BRAIN Biotech's proprietary BioGold® microorganisms and bioprocess for environmentally friendly recovery of gold from waste streams (urban mining).
• Akribion Therapeutics GmbHflagship bioincubator commercialization / value-up partnerOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 31 October 2024Exclusive pharma licensing agreement (signed 31 October 2024) granting Akribion Therapeutics GmbH exclusive rights to BRAIN Biotech's genome-editing nuclease G-dase E® for pharmaceutical applications. BRAIN Biotech can receive up to EUR 92.3 million in R&D and commercial milestone fees plus royalties on net sales; payment structure tied to clinical progress and market success. Akribion is led by Co-CEOs Lukas Linnig and Dr. Michael Krohn (moved from BRAIN Biotech), financed by a strong VC consortium, headquartered in Zwingenberg, focused on precision oncology. BRAIN Biotech retains non-pharma rights for use in its core business.
• Biodiscoverymid-tier technology partner for metxtra™ accessTechnology or Integration · 8 October 2024Strategic partnership announced 8 October 2024 expanding access to untapped enzymes for industrial application via MetXtra™, complementing the platform's metagenomic discovery capabilities.
• Biocatalysts Ltd.core intra-group co-development alliance (life science enzymes)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2024BRAIN Biotech AG and Biocatalysts Ltd. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BRAIN Biotech Group since 2023) launched the BRAIN-Biocatalysts Life Science Solutions initiative on 1 October 2024 to revolutionize enzyme development for the life science industry by addressing IP restrictions and scale-up challenges. The initiative combines BRAIN Biotech's MetXtra™ enzyme-discovery platform (bioinformatics, AI, novel enzyme sequences) with Biocatalysts' Cardiff fermentation facility (up to 10,000L) and downstream processing — plus the proprietary Plug & Produce microbial strain platform — to deliver end-to-end enzyme solutions from discovery to commercial-scale production.
• Pharvaris N.V. (Nasdaq: PHVS)core licensing partner for the deucrictibant programOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 20 September 2024Pharvaris Netherlands N.V. (Nasdaq: PHVS) holds the license to develop Deucrictibant (formerly PHA121) — a BRAIN Biotech-discovered bradykinin-B2-receptor antagonist currently in clinical development for Hereditary Angioedema (HAE). The compound originated at BRAIN Biotech's Potsdam research site (AnalytiCon Discovery). Royalty rights to Pharvaris' commercial milestones were subsequently monetized via Royalty Pharma; additional contractual milestones of up to EUR 9.0 million for nearer-term clinical progress remain with BRAIN Biotech.
• Enzymicals AGmid-tier subsidiary / cross-cooperation partnerStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 May 2024Dr. Erik de Vries appointed as Senior Business Development Director Enzymes at BRAIN Biotech AG effective 1 June 2024, while continuing as CEO of Enzymicals AG during a transition phase until end-2024. After handover of the Enzymicals CEO role on 1 January 2025, he was planned for appointment to Enzymicals' Supervisory Board as BRAIN Biotech's representative. The arrangement deepens operational synergies between BRAIN Biotech's proprietary technology packages (microbial strains, genome editing, metagenome libraries) and Enzymicals' biocatalysis service offering.
• AnalytiCon Discovery GmbHcore historical subsidiary now merged into parentStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024AnalytiCon Discovery GmbH (Potsdam, Germany), part of the BRAIN Biotech Group since 2013 and a fully-owned subsidiary, was merged into BRAIN Biotech AG effective 2024 to further optimize and simplify the Group structure. AnalytiCon continues to operate as an independent commercial unit focused on natural product chemistry and small molecule compound discovery (originator of the Deucrictibant program).
• Breatec B.V.core continental european production subsidiaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022BRAIN Biotech acquired a majority stake in Breatec B.V. (Nieuwkuijk, Netherlands) in 2022 and, after buying out the remaining minorities, became its full owner in 2025. In May 2025 the company was disclosed as a new continental European production site with an expanded Baking Application Center.
• Sartoriusmid-tier r&d collaboration on crispr-cas nucleasesStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 July 2021Sartorius and BRAIN announced a joint research collaboration on 28 July 2021 to research and adapt novel CRISPR-Cas nucleases, supporting development of BRAIN Biotech's proprietary genome-editing nuclease portfolio.
• Biosun Biochemicals Inc.core us distribution subsidiary (now part of group)Channel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 7 January 2021Acquired Biosun Biochemicals Inc. (Tampa, Florida, USA) on 7 January 2021. Biosun is a distributor, formulator and blender of enzymes, flavors, food ingredients and natural colors in the US market, expanding BRAIN Biotech's North American product-business growth trajectory and distribution capabilities.
• SolasCure Ltd.core bioincubator asset (aurase® wound-care)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018SolasCure Ltd. was founded in 2018 with BRAIN Biotech's participation to advance Aurase® — BRAIN Biotech's enzymatic compound for cleansing chronic wounds. SolasCure has successfully completed Phase 2a clinical trials demonstrating accelerated healing and safe debridement, and is preparing Phase 2b/3 development while securing further financing. BRAIN Biotech announced a breakthrough at SolasCure in February 2026 showing strong clinical evidence of superior debridement and healing in chronic wounds.
• Biocatalysts Ltd.flagship intra-group / former partner now subsidiaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018BRAIN Biotech first acquired a stake in Biocatalysts Ltd. (Cardiff, UK) in 2018, expanded the stake in May 2021, and completed the full takeover in 2023. Biocatalysts is an industry expert in discovery, development and manufacture of specialty enzymes with fermentation, downstream processing, freeze drying, application & bakery and blending capabilities — operating four UK sites and now the production backbone of the BioProducts segment and BRAIN-Biocatalysts Life Science Solutions.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves14 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Novonesis: World's largest specialty enzyme company (formed via Novozymes + Chr. Hansen merger in 2024). Directly competes with BRAIN Biotech's BRAINBiocatalysts segment in food, beverage and industrial enzyme markets, and serves as the benchmark 'top-10 enzyme company' BRAIN explicitly targets.
• AB Enzymes: Specialty enzyme manufacturer owned by Associated British Foods, focused on food, beverage and industrial enzyme applications. Directly comparable to BRAIN Biotech's Biocatalysts and Breatec baking/F&B enzyme portfolio with similar B2B customer base and product positioning.
• Amano Enzyme: Japanese specialty enzyme manufacturer serving food, beverage, pharmaceutical and diagnostics markets with a similar mid-size specialty enzyme catalog model. Comparable to BRAIN Biotech's Biocatalysts/WeissBioTech product portfolios and direct competitor in life-science enzymes.
• Codexis: US-listed protein engineering company using directed evolution and computational design to develop novel enzymes for pharma and industrial customers. Closely comparable to BRAIN Biotech's MetXtra™-enabled enzyme engineering and CRO services, with similar end markets in small-molecule API biocatalysis.

Broad incumbents

• DSM-Firmenich: Global nutrition, health and ingredients major with a substantial enzyme and bioprocess portfolio across food, feed and personal care. Overlaps with BRAIN Biotech across food enzymes, life science APIs and microbial strain engineering, but as part of a much broader ingredients conglomerate.
• IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances): Major ingredients company with a large enzymes and food biosolutions business (legacy DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences). Competes with BRAIN Biotech in baking, beverage and food processing enzymes but operates as a diversified flavor/ingredient supplier rather than a specialty pure-play.
• BASF: Global chemical major with a sizable industrial biotechnology and enzyme business (BASF Enzymes). Overlaps with BRAIN Biotech on industrial enzyme R&D and microbial production strains, but serves these markets as part of a much larger chemicals and agricultural solutions portfolio.

Emerging players

• Carbios: French biotech developing enzyme-based processes for plastic recycling (PET) and bioproducts. Comparable to BRAIN Biotech's BioGold® environmental/recycling and biocatalysis activities, though focused specifically on plastic biorecycling rather than broad industrial enzyme applications.
• Arzeda: US computational protein design company combining AI with enzyme engineering to develop novel industrial enzymes. Comparable to BRAIN Biotech's MetXtra™ AI enzyme design capability and serves overlapping food, consumer products and pharma enzyme markets, though at smaller scale.
• Ginkgo Bioworks: US synthetic biology platform that designs and licenses engineered microbial strains and enzymes for industrial customers. Adjacent comparable to BRAIN Biotech's microbial production strain engineering and CRISPR-BMC® genome editing capabilities, particularly for industrial biotech applications.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BRAINbiotech
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@BRAINBiotechAG
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brainbiotech

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A4 records

Investments4 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BRAIN Biotech AG